Is it hot enough for you? I’m ready for cooler temps, but based on the forecast, the first week of September is going to be warm. The current weather at my QTH can always be found here: http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KCAVENTU59
Situated in E. Ventura, my weather is more like Camarillo vs the coast of Ventura.
My weather station has been pushing data to Weather Underground for many years now. For as mild as our weather is, it still does surprising things now and again. Check out this temperature plot from last week. Temps peaked at 97 degrees, then the winds picked up and temps fell 20 degrees in 1 hour! Crazy!
Last week I took a trip with Margaret up to Seattle to visit family. We spent a week there, staying in a nice hotel downtown that was within walking distance to many sights. “Dave, did you bring a radio?” Glad you asked – yes I did. And I listened to and checked into a local net a couple of times during my stay. Getting to that point wasn’t easy though. . . .
The day after we arrived, I pulled up RepeaterBook on my phone and saw that there were a handful of repeaters nearby that I should be able to hit – especially from the 21st floor of our hotel room. I entered the first repeater into my HT and instantly heard an active net, and the signal was strong! This was 9’ish in the morning Sunday. I waited my turn to check in, gave my callsign and name, unkeyed and heard another station was under me. Hmmm. Next chance I got, I tried again. The same thing happened. “Weird, I’m not making it into the repeater.”. I checked my PL tone – yep, correct. I checked if I was in split frequency mode – yep, I could see the frequency change when I keyed up. “Maybe the hotel is blocking my signal?” I tried one more time and net control came back with “There’s a weak station out there, can’t quite pull you out of the noise, try a new position and/or turn up your power and try again.” I moved, tried again, and failed. That was enough for this morning as we were headed out on our adventure for the day.
Day 2 arrived – let’s try again, but from our room’s other window on a different face of our towering hotel building. Nope – same problem. So weird. Did I not activate the PL tone? Some HT’s, you can enter a PL tone in the setup menu, but you also have to activate it. Near as I could tell, my HT didn’t need that second step. What the heck? Later in the day, I tried from another location in the city and still didn’t hear the repeater acknowledge my key-up. What am I missing?
Day 3, we’re again at our family member’s home and she asks “do you have a setting wrong?”. I said “No”, but maybe it was the lighting at her apartment enabling me to better see the small LCD screen on my HT, this time when I keyed-up I saw my problem – the offset was wrong. 5 MHz is not the offset for 2M. Once I set the offset to 0.6 MHz, I got in just fine from her apartment, our hotel room, and while out and about in the city on a walk.
It didn’t occur to me that the offset was wrong. The radio knew I was doing 2M, and I verified the duplex direction setting was correct (-). Previously I saw the frequency change on the LCD when keying up, but my brain didn’t actually read the value, just the fact that the freq had changed. Lesson learned – maybe. Wear my glasses(!), look carefully, and inspect everything – even the stuff that doesn’t need to be checked 🙂
Oh, and that weak station report: it ends up that it actually wasn’t to me.
The Nine O’clock and Noon nets, Daily 09:00, 12:00 & 21:00
Every day at 9 AM, Noon, and 9 PM, there’s a certain buzz in the air as PSRG friends gather around their radios, ready for the next round of friendly check-ins. These easygoing, welcoming social nets are a great way to stay connected, share a quick hello, or simply enjoy the company of fellow hams. Whether you’re checking in or just listening, we’d love to have you with us! These nets have been going on every day of the year for over 40 years, since approximately 1976.
The net I checked into was the Puget Sound Repeater Group. Their nets, not unlike our Monday 2M net, consisted of net control asking for check-ins, and then net control would go through the list, asking everyone to take up to 3 mins of time to talk about what they’ve been up to before moving on to the next person. The subject didn’t have to be ham radio, and most of the conversation that day was not about it but about the heat. Yep, they were having hot muggy days too. Folks checking in, and net control were super friendly, everyone had great audio (they have 6 receivers sprinkled through the cities), the conversation was lively, and the net continued on for about 1.3 hours that particular morning. I could tell from the conversations I heard that ham radio was an extension of their social life. They had a LOT of check-ins, great participation from hams in the area.
I later checked out their website. The net I heard is held 3X per day (09:00, 12:00, 21:00), 7 days a week, and has been going on for decades. Amazing! They also have an Allstar connection, which I added to my Allstar app on my phone. I plan on regularly listening in and participating in their nets.
The Puget Sound Radio Group’s website can be found here: https://web.psrg.org/
What do we have planned for September?
Sept 12, Friday 19:00 Monthly Club Meeting – Grace Lutheran Church Ventura and over Zoom. Cory Gibson from DX Engineering is going to give us a talk on NVIS. Perfect topic for those of you participating in our local HF nets, and also for EMCOM. Also, we’ll have our world famous ‘Tables of Stuff!’. You’re sure to find an item you just can’t live without.
Sept 13, Saturday 10:00 – 15:00 – 2nd Annual Ham Radio MicroExpo – CSUCI Our club will again be at Cal State University Channel Islands and will be in the same courtyard as last year. Come and show your support for your club and fellow hams! Bring a radio, or just come out and operate one of many that we’ll have set up. Speaking of setting up, we could use help setting up in the morning before, and tearing down after the event, and we need chairs! Come on out and meet hams from other clubs (think ‘Linked-In’ for hams). Information for this event can be found here: http://www.theborednet.net/index.php/ham-radio-expo-to-be-held-on-september-12-2025/
Sept 20, Saturday 8:30am VE Session – Grace Lutheran Church Ventura. Looking to upgrade your license? Know someone that wants to get their license? We have plenty of spaces available. Send us an email at licensing@vcarc.club to give us a heads up AND so we can send you information on what to bring on the day of your test.
Sept 20, Saturday 11:00 – 14:00 PICNIC !! – Grace Lutheran Church Ventura picnic area. Our 3rd and last picnic for 2025. Potluck style, the club will provide hot dogs, hamburgers and bottled water free of charge for club members. You bring a small side dish to share – the more exotic the better! (who, besides me, likes spicy foods?)
Sept 20, Saturday 11:00 – 14:00 Portable Operations and Help Event – Grace Lutheran Church Ventura picnic area. Yes, this is being held simultaneously with our picnic. Why? Because food, conversation and ham radio go great together! Plus I’ve put in an order for amazingly good band conditions for the day – don’t jinx it by not showing up!
See you all at the Friday club meeting, the MicroExpo, and our VE/Picnic/Portable Operations events!
Dave AI6VX
